As the complexity of integrated circuits (IC) is increasing, the development of test programs needed to verify on an IC tester if the integrated circuits are functioning properly is a task that is performed by several test engineers in parallel. Each test engineer is developing some parts of the test program. When a test engineer has finished a part of the test program he needs to check if his part and the until then commonly developed test program is working as expected. To do so he needs the IC itself and an IC tester, which is executing the test program. Because IC testers are very expensive the test engineers share the IC tester to save costs, as will become clear from the discussion of FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a typical setup for a multiuser access to an IC tester. Each software engineer 10_1 to 10_3 has his own computer 12_1 to 12_3 where he develops the part of the test program he is responsible for. Each computer 12_1 to 12_3 is connected to a central computer 14 which is connected to an IC tester (or automatic test equipment) 16. The central computer 14 controls the IC tester 16. To do this sharing there is some overhead associated to the engineers 10_1 to 10_3.                (1) The engineers need to coordinate test times between each other.        (2) Block the IC tester 16.        (3) Install the test program on the central computer 14.        (4) Check if the tester 16 is configured correctly and make corrections if needed.        (5) Execute the test.        (6) Get test results from the IC tester 16 to local computer for further data analysis.        (7) Reset the IC tester 16 in a pre-defined state.        (8) Release the IC tester 16.        
This is time consuming and error-prone, as configuration changes on the IC tester and/or software environment made by a predecessor may be overlooked and lead to wrong measurement results.